anal pain since childbirth - breastfeeding stopping healing?

[MaeBee]

hi,
tomorrow i have a hospital appointment again. i have, i think, an anal fissure.
i gave birth to my baby 8.5 mths ago, forceps delivery, episiotomy and all that, and a couple of weeks after got this extraordinary pain when shitting, and blood etc. firstly, was diagnosed as having haemorroids, but eventually they decided it was a fissure.
last appointment it was too painful for them to look, but they said yes, probably a fissure, suggested anoheal - which i have found is safe for breastfeeding and am using and helps - but im not healed yet.
possibly might have to have surgery, which carries a risk of fecal incontinence. ugh. but im getting desperate. at the moment the pain is manageable, but sometimes it hurts not only having a bowel movement, but for hours afterwards.
i havent had penetrative sex since the birth, feel too afraid and in pain, the vagina too close to the anus.
and, im worried it might be worse than a fissure. rectal bleeding, lost lots of weight, need to shit at 5ish most mornings, often really urgently and very loose (sorry TMI!) and ive been thinking its my period coming back but now imwondering if its abdominal pain cos of some irritable bowel disease?
anyway, if anyone else has suffered this please let me know! and, im breastfeeding, and ive heard from other bf mothers that there fissures healed after stopping feeding, maybe low eostegen interfering with healing???
dreading my appointment tomorrow, cos its embarassing and probably pointless (they havent yet managed an internal examination cos too painful), but then i dread going to the toilet every morning too.
wish me luck!

I know! Still, I'm rather wondering about my consultant generally but also he speaks with a heavy foreign accent so maybe it was me getting hold of the wrong end of the stick? How are you feeling today? I was pain free this morning so hoping I've turned the corner again for a while.

Miffy please dont apologise- your posting wasnt doom and gloom at all to me, it made me feel better that it's not just me who feels like this - so thank you! I want to speak to GP about elective C section, but everyone keeps telling me that 'it won't be anythng like the first time'.. blah blah, and I wonder if I'm not giving myself a chance - then I go through a bad patch and I think f*ck it! I'm not going through what I went through last time! I seemed to be able to go this morning without any rediator clutching - thanks for the luck with the GTN, am going to get it tomorrow! Miffy - pleased you've turned a corner again - how are you Maebee?

Sorry - RADIATOR ( too much wine....)

Hello,
No pain or bleeding for a couple of days now Got my hopsital appointment today - 23rd November. Maebee, what do they do at the appointment?

hi there myrtle: at my appointment they had my lie on my side and checked my bum, i told them it was probably too sore for an internal so they didn't do it.they looked on the outside but didn't see anything, although i have skin tags now (which are pretty unsightly) and are an indication of chronic fissures. they felt my belly i guess to check for constipation/bowel blockage.
they asked lots of questions, about diet, how long its been going on etc etc. but after i wished i had asked lots of my own. next time i took a written list, knowing i'd be nervous and forget later, and i would advise doing that!
i told them i was breastfeeding, and they basically advised medical treatment, which is cream, in Leeds it's anoheal. which i rate as i've said before. they also talked to me about surgery.
it all felt very rushed after waiting for so long! don't expect an instant answer. its just one step on a long process.
ive had several since and its kind of the same procedure each time.
good luck! don't be too scared. generally they have been pretty patronising with me which annoys me, i HATE childish terms for body parts and when they asked me if i was having "bottom problems", i wished i'd bitterly replied "thats why im in the anorectal unit..."! but that was the worst.
ive been good for a few days again, no blood, no pain. and yesterday i went 7 times after a night on the beer!!
love and fruit,
let us know how it goes.

Glad to hear you're progressing further with hospital myrtle. May I ask how you got to this stage (i.e how long before GP referred you)? I only ask as having a really bad day today - lots of blood and been feeling in pain and miserable all day. Have booked another appointment with my doctor but not sure what to say other than I'm fed up with it!

Miffy,

Sorry its been a bad day for you
I went to the dr on 5th Ocotber and got my referral letter on 15th Oct but the appointment is until 23rd Nov. It was the first time I'd seen the doctor about it but she was concerned because she couldn't see anything and I've been bleeding on and off now since DS was born a year ago.

Its getting to me too at the moment, the pain is really much better now but its the blood that worries me and then I get into a stupid cycle of worry. I'm just a hypochondriac

Miffy - sorry you're going through a bad patch - it;s so miserable. Hope it improves soon for you x

miffy - push for a referal at the doctors. maybe you are like me adn inclined to downplay your symptoms when you go, so as to not seem weak, but it doesn't help!
explain the symptoms at their WORST not their best, and explain that sometimes you feel desperate. if your doctor doesn't help, see another one.

Thanks for your sweet messages guys. Apologies for my whinging but I find this site so supportive! Feeling more myself again today but will make sure I tell the doctor all, although my appointment isn't for a few days yet.

Hope you're all feeling OK? x

Really interested in your outcome Miffy. I;m in a nasty period at the moment, DREAD going to the loo, just had to go at work and then had to stagger back to desk and gingerly sit down, but still trying to remain normal to work colleagues. Although they're very nice, I can't really explain the problem to them... This thread is my saviour!

hows it going?
i don't want to jinx things, but my bum STILL good.
suffering a toddler with hand foot and mouth disease though poor lad.
hope you doing ok all?

Lakelover, I sympathise. It must be horrible to suffer like that at work. I hope you've improved a bit since you posted last week. Maebee, glad you're doing better - sorry to hear about your little'un. THere's always something to try us!

I had a follow up session with the consultant this week, who although primarily interested in my stitches following DS's birth 4 months ago was much more sympathetic towards my fissure this time too. Told me he'd refer me to bottom specialist (the technical name escapes me!) in January if it's not better by then (I wish!), and told me that botox is the next step if not. (Interestingly they prefer the botox option to the operation as apparently more successful?) So at least I feel like I'm being listened to now, and I don't have to go whinging to my GP next week.:0

miffymoo: botox is less succesful generally but also less risky. surgery carries a 5% chance of feceal incontinence. ugh. my surgeon declared it less risky than that though so maybe they got better at it.
im due for botox too if i havent healed by my next appointment: 22 nov!

Thanks Raebees, do let me know how you get on. It's all such fun - maybe I could persuade the doc to put a little extra botox in my face to ease the obvious aging from sleepless nights (and screwing my face up with agony when on the loo!!)

Hi, Hope everyone doesnt mind me joining in with this thread, but have just read it and found it so supportive.

I had my baby over 2 years ago- had a third degree tear and it spent 3 hrs being stitched up in theatre. It was horrific. I thought my ordeal would end there, but of course it was only the start! Left hospital 4 days later barely able to walk and in a lot of pain. I'd say it took over a year for vaginal pain to go but have been left with this awful anal pain. My bum started feel sore about 8 weeks after I gave birth. Bowel movements hurt and I'd be left feeling red raw. Gradually going to the toilet has improved but have been left with a horrendous itching all round 'the area'. This itching is awful. Its worse after going to the toilet and walking is a nightmare. Just a constant soreness. Even lying in bed at night it keeps me awake. I tried every cream I could think of but finally plucked up the courage to see my gp 6 months ago. She examined me, said it wasnt piles and gave me a cream. Cream worse than useless. Finally went to the doctors again this week and said I needed to see a specialist as I cant cope with this continuos pain and itching. She gave me another cream. It took a lot for me to work up the courage to go and I repeated about 5 times that the pain must be related to the third degree tear as I'd never had anything like this in my life before. Doctor said it wasnt, that I had a rash and it was the skin rather than the anus causing the problem. I have been using this steroid cream for a couple of days and of course it hasnt worked. I am now going to make another appointment and this time demand for a referral even if I have to pay to see someone.

This problem really gets me down, its awful trying to have a normal life when I dread going to the toilet or even doing much walking as I know the itching problem with be aggravated.

Thanks for reading. I know my story is not as bad as some of the posts on this thread and I feel for you all, but its been so good to share with other people who know what I'm going through. I never knew giving birth could have such an awful effect on my bum!

hi all!
and welcome daisym, although, as said before, its a funny welcome cos its not good that you have to be on this thread.ive heard about the itching pain before, read about it on the internet i mean, and it does sound awful. continuous pain is so difficult isn't it?
you poor thing, every sympathy and empathy froom all of us. is it the same level of itching and pain all the time or is it on and off? and is it painful going to the toilet or something entirely different from a fissure?
i have just got back from spain visiting my parents and despite drinking like a fish and eating bad food im currently ok. i think maybe i was right all along, and stopping breastfeeding has helped me heal?
not that im counting my chickens yet.
hope you are all well,

Hi everyone

Not been on for AGES cos we moved to Germany and have had no internet (still no TV) since. Just got connected last night and spent the last 20mins catching up.

Pregnancy is now 14wks. I've had a scan and things seem OK. The German doc said that my fissure is due to get worse (they don't mince their words!) but he can't treat it until I've given birth.

On the whole, like you Maebee, mine is milder than it was. Only trouble I have is that I'm inclined to constipation since the birth of my dd. No matter how much fruit and all-bran I eat, I can't seem to get the right consistency for easy pooing...its either hard lumps (sorry for TMI but am desperate!)or soft but MASSIVE and stretches my bum too much. Any advice? I don't take lactulose (I will demand some for straight after birth this time)or psyllium which I did try but it didn't seem to make a dif?

Thanks for the help guys and lets hope these fissures fiss off xx

oh basset. good news that your baby seems ok, sad that your fissure is still problematic. mine has been ok for a while now, no blood, no pain. i actually think this time i might be healed! ive even got my sex drive back and managed penetrative sex again (it wasn't just comfortable it was great!!!)
i really think hormones played a big role in my situation.
i don't know what to suggest. sometimes bran can make things TOO bulky though, i know that. keep up the fruit, but don't add extra bran? and remember to drink heaps and heaps of water?
hows it going having moved?

Hi there

It's hard work, what with trying to learn the language and look after an 11mth old and being preggers too. However, I found an English-speaking playgroup and we are getting out and about. It's snowing here at the mo, very pretty.

I realised that I don't actually eat that much fruit - more cereals than anything else so once I'd started upping the fruit things were back to being quite OK again. I guess sometimes, you don't realise when you're sabotaging your own efforts!! Also, there isn't as much good choice of decent fruit in the supermarkets here and I'm still at the iffy stage with food/nausea.

So glad you are feeling better and great news about the sex!!! You do seemed to have turned a corner since stopping BF?

I'll keep you posted on my bum-ectomy that I intend to have during/post-labour!

glad you are coping Basset, think i'd find it really hard. my grim news is i relapsed yesterday. grrrr. no blood but a bit of pain again. not loads, so bearable, but so disheartening. got another arse appointment on thursday so will see what happens then!
enjoy the snow. think its meant to be snowing here soon?!

hello all,

Maebee, I had 4 great weeks then relapsed last week, really quite painful when I go at the moment and blood today
I have my bum appointment on friday. Hope yours goes well on thursday.
Daisy - know what you mean about the itching, I get this too especially when out walking. Grim.

well its funny (not ha ha!) but still no blood, and pain is manageable. not really expecting any answers on thurs at my bum appointment, only stress that i have to decide what to do next!
will let you know how it goes.

my appointment today, and my stomach is knotted and im weeping over the internet in anticipation of the humiliation and frustration. im fairly certain they will next offer me botox, and im so unsure what to do. my appointments are so brief, just a few minutes with someone new each time, who checks my bum and then tells me the next general procedure, its so impersonal and uninformative.
i always try and blurt out as much info about ME and my personal case as i can, and the level of politeness with which they listen varies, but it doesn't change the outcome of what i get offered. i guess thats western medicine and a time strapped NHS for you.
its a dilemma and i have to decide before i go in whether i accept the next surgical procedure or not, cos its too stressful to decide in there. i think i want to postpone it. ive had over a month pain and blood free, and now its just a bit of pain (currently) and still no blood. i think its worth waiting.
in fact i think ive decided all ready! thanks this list for letting me rant on.
love and good health to you all!

maebee,
How was the appointment today? I think it is worth waiting too. I had 4 weeks pain and blood free although relapsed a bit at the weekend but I find the pain much more bearable now and am hoping it might be starting to improve.
I've got my appointment tomorrow, I'm so nervous. I really hope they find a fissure just so I know what is causing this.